1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to techniques for processing data entered into forms. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for aggregating and submitting data entered into a customized packet of forms.
2. Related Art
Electronic forms have become the primary means by which organizations gather data from their clients. Whether the form is web-based or downloadable, the form enables organizations to gather information about their clients to facilitate transactions with their clients.
As Internet usage becomes increasingly more prevalent, more forms are being processed online. In many cases, organizations require a user to fill out more than one form. Furthermore, the set of forms that an organization requires a user to fill out may differ depending on requirements for a specific user. For instance, the Internal Revenue Service requires specific forms to be sent along with a taxpayer's tax return depending on the taxpayer's tax profile. Hence, if an organization wants the user to fill out more than one form, it is often the case that different sets of forms need to be sent to different users.
To deal with this problem, organizations often use a “mega-form,” which contains all possible combinations of forms that different users might require depending on their circumstances. Unfortunately, the user must sift through the mega-form to find the applicable forms to complete. After completing the applicable forms, the user submits the data from the mega-form to the server for processing. The server then parses the data submitted by the mega-form to extract the relevant data.
Another option is to create a customized application. This customized application first presents the user with a series of questions. Next, the customized application asks the user to fill out the applicable forms based on the answers to the series of questions, and then sends data from the applicable forms back to the server for processing. Unfortunately, in order to use this technique, a custom application must be written for each situation. An example of this type of application is tax preparation software, wherein the application guides the user through a tax interview and then returns the completed forms to the Internal Revenue Service.
Yet another option is for the user to download and fill out individual forms, which are separately submitted to the server for processing. Unfortunately, since each form is submitted separately, the server must somehow associate the data from each submitted form with the correct user.
Yet another option is for the user to fill out a series of web-based forms. In this case, the website presents a form to the user and after the user completes the form, the website returns the form to the server for processing. In this type of system, each form must be submitted to the server prior to starting the next form. Unfortunately, if the user wants to edit a submitted form, the submitted form must be retrieved from the server, corrected, and then resubmitted to the server.
As can be seen from the discussion above, existing techniques for submitting multiple related forms suffer from a number of drawbacks.
Hence, what is needed is a method and an apparatus which supports aggregating and submitting data from a customized packet of forms without the problems described above.